Date:08/04/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/04/08/stories/2005040818320300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Waiting for LPG cylinders, now a thing of the past

By Our Staff Reporter

The Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. installed piped gas facility at an apartment in Bangalore. — Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

BANGALORE, APRIL 7. Booking an LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinder every month is a thing of the past for 78 households in an apartment on Airport Road. For, LPG is supplied to them through pipes connected to a cylinder bank in a corner of the building.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd., which supplies Bharat Gas, has provided the facility. It has offered to supply gas through 19 kg commercial cylinders at the price of domestic cylinders.

The amount of gas consumed by each household is measured (in cubic metres) by a metre fixed at each house. The metre is read once a month and charges are collected, according to S. Shanmugam, Territory Manager (LPG) of the company.

He said the households would be charged an additional Rs. 10 as service charges. "There is no other cost," he said.

He said piped gas is safer. The system will detect leakage, if any, and shut the supply automatically.

This is possible because the system recognises fluctuation in the pressure caused by leakage. It can shut supply at three levels — cylinder bank, the point near the metre and the point near the stove.

Each household has been charged Rs. 10,000 for a piped connection.

He said the company would offer the facility to apartments with at least 10 flats. Nearly 200 apartments in the city are using the facility, he said.

More details can be had on Ph: 22975456 and e-mail: shanmugams @ bharatpetroleum.com.